The invention relates to apparatus for manipulating large bales, especially bales of hay, and more particularly to a novel and improved self-contained, self-propelled, apparatus for loading, transporting and stacking baled hay.
Considerable effort has been devoted over time to the development of apparatus for quickly and efficiently loading transporting, and unloading baled hay. The need for mechanized apparatus to accomplish these tasks has accelerated as the standard size, and thus weight, of hay bales has increased. Formerly, a typical bale of hay could be lifted and manipulated by a single physically strong individual. More recently, and for efficiency's sake, hay frequently is compressed and bound in bales measuring four feet on a side and eight feet long--bales so heavy and bulky that powered, mechanized loading and unloading is necessary.
Also increasingly common is the practice of storing and using baled hay in locations substantially remote from the fields where the hay was grown, giving rise to a need for efficient means for loading baled hay in the field and transporting the bales a considerable distance to storage. Also, the hay occasionally is used in disparate locations removed from the point of storage, compelling the re-transportation of stacked bales from storage to the points of consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,472 to Matlack et al. discloses a bale loading, transporting and unloading device incorporating a fork having tines with which to stab a hay bale and lift it under hydraulic power to an elevated position, from which the bale is supposed to roll under the force of gravity onto an inclined transportation bed. The bales are unloaded by dropping a tailgate on the bed and allowing the bales to slide or roll from the bed by force of gravity. Densely compacted bales, however, are difficult to spear and may be pushed along the ground rather than impaled. Also, no controlled means are provided for reliably removing the bale from the tines of the fork.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,504 to Klompien shows a bale handling trailer adapted to be towed in an offset position to the side and behind a tractor. The device includes a forklift type of cradle with which to lift bales from the ground onto the trailer bed. The bed is tiltable from a horizontal position to a vertical position for unloading. The device apparently is unable to stack bales more than one layer deep upon the bed. Additionally, acceptably efficient operation of the Klompien device unrealistically requires that the bales be aligned in neat rows in the field, as each bale must be lined up with the offset-towed trailer in order to be in position for loading.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,111 to Callahan teaches a bale pick up and stacking device incorporating bale arms with which to grasp the sides of a bale, and lengthy pick up arms with which the bale is lifted by hydraulic power up and over an operator cab to be dropped, with little apparent guidance or control, upon an accumulator bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,102 to Gray shows a trailer apparatus including a winch-and-cable system for pivoting a bale cradle to lift round bales from the ground astride the trailer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,101 to Green et al. discloses a bale handling apparatus employing hydraulically powered arms to grab cylindrical bales and pivot them into position for a rolling deposition upon a tiltable bed. The Green et al. device has marginal, if any, utility for loading and unloading rectangular bales.
A need remains for a self-propelled apparatus which safely and efficiently loads and unloads bales of various sizes and shapes without regard for the bales' orientation and position upon the ground in the field, which stacks the bales in an orderly fashion upon a transportation bed for conveyance to storage, and which can also rapidly retrieve bulk stacks from storage for re-transport to a consumption location.